Spring operated toy



S. WECHSLER SPRING OPERATED TOY Filed Dec. 11, 1947 INVENZ'OR. SAMMYWECHSL ER A TTORNEYS April 29, 1952 Patented Apr. 29, 1952 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFIGE 2,594,527 SPRING OPERATED 'roY v Sammy Wechsler, New York,N. Y. Application December 11, 1947, Serial No. 791,118

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to spring operated toys wherein a spring iscompressed and more particularly to that type of such toys which areoperated by a compressed spring which, when released, will propel thetoy in a forward direction.

An object of the invention is to provide a toy of the class describedwherein the mounting for the spring is of simplified construction andreadily adapted for use with toys having plastic bodies.

Another object is the provision of a toy of the class described in whicha simple and efficient release mechanism is provided under the controlof the user for releasing the toy to the operation of the spring.

A further object is the provision of a toy of the class described whichis attractive in appearance and in which the propelling mechanism has aminimum of parts that are not easily damaged by children. 7

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the accompanyingspecification and drawings where the invention is shown applied to a toyautomobile.

It will be understood however, that-this invention is applicable to anytype of toy, for example, an airplane, or to any other toy which it isdesired to either propel along the ground or project into the air underthe power of a spring, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a horizontal view partly in section of a toy automobileembodying the invention, with the spring in extended or releasedposition;

Figure 2 is a view partly in section of the containing tube for thespring, the latter being shown in compressed position;

Figure 3 is a detail view partly in section of a modified form of thelocking mechanism for the spring; and

Figure 4 is a rear view showing a modified form of spring holder as usedon a slightly different type of automobile body than that shown inFigure 1.

Referring to Figure l, the numeral H) generally denotes the body of atoy automobile which may be made of metal, plastic or any other suitablematerial. By way of illustration, it will be assumed that a plastic bodyis shown and this is broken away as indicated in the figure in order toshow the mounting for the propelling spring hereinafter described.

Such plastic bodies for toy automobiles are usually die cast orinjection molded and in the embodiment shown in the drawing, such a body2 is molded with horizontal transverse ribs II and 12 therein and thebody is provided at its rear end with a tube receiving aperture 13.

A tube 14 made of any suitable material, for example rolled up out oftin, is pushed into the opening I3 and the inner end of said tube issupported between the ribs II and I2.

A normally expanded spring 15 is placed within the tube and the innerend of this spring is suitably formed into a hook or eye It to receive apin I'I which may be inserted from the bottom of the body as shown inFigure 1.

This pin passes through the rib I2, through the wall of the tube 14 andthe eye l6 of the spring and terminates in the rib H thereby securingthe tube to the body It and the spring within the tube, the pinperforming a double function in this respect.

If now the automobile is placed on the ground and held with one handwhile a rod I8 is inserted into the tube 14 with the other hand, thespring 15 will be compressed to the position shown in Figure 2, and whenit reaches a suitable com pressed position, a latch I9 in the rod willenter an aperture 20 in the body and engage the inner wall of saidaperture, or the latch l9 will enter the enlarged outer end 2| of thetube 14. In either event, the rod [8 will hold the spring I5 undercompression.

If now the automobile is released from the hand while the rod I8 is heldby the user, and the latch I9 is depressed as indicated by the thumb 22,Figure 2, the automobile will be re leased from the rod l3, spring I5will suddenly expand, driving the automobile forward a considerabledistance. If, instead of an automobile a toy airplane is used, theairplane will be projected into the air by the force of the spring.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the innor end of the latch l9,Figure l, engages the body of the automobile whereas in Figure 2, theinner end of the latch engages theouter end of tube 14, which is shapedto receive it.

The latter construction eliminates the necessity of the opening 20 inthe body which is desirable in some instances, whereas the constructionin Figure 2 ensures a very definite mutual relationship between the tubeI4 and the rod 18 and affords a somewhat more precise latch mechanism,as the latch operation is a metal to metal one instead of being metal toplastic as that shown in connection with Figure 1.

In Figure 3 is shown a modified form of latch mechanism. Here the tube Mhas an opening 23 in its side wall.

inserted into the tube I 4, the rounded end 28 If now the rod having therounded end 28 is will engage the nose portion 25 of the spring 24 anddepress same and the rod will ride past the nose 25 until said noseenters the notch 21, whereupon the nose will enter the notch, as shownin Figure 3, thereby locking the rod I8 with spring I5 in its compressedposition. as shown in Figure 2. 1

If now the outer end of the rod i8 is held in the hand and the outer end26 of the latch 24 is slightly depressed, the vehicle will be releasedto the action of spring I5 and will be projected forward away from therod.

While the invention has been described wherein the spring is mountedwithin the vehicle or object to be moved,'it will be understood that therelative positions of spring I5 and rod l8 may be reversed in a mannerthat will be obvious and that the inventive concept resides ininterposing the spring between the object to be moved and a member to beheld in the hand of the user, to,- gether with the provision of meansfor releasing the object to the tension of the spring. Referring toFigure 4, a modified form of spring holder is shown replacing the tubeI4 shown in the preceding figures. In Figure 4 the body of theautomobile is indicated by the numeral 29, but obviously this may be ofany type such as that shown in Figure l.

Secured to the bottom of the body in a suitable manner such as by theordinary drive pins 30, are the bottom plates 3I, 32 which may cover theentire bottom of the automobile or only so much of it as may benecessary.

The plates 3|, 32 are shaped so as to form, when placed together, a tubeor bore 33 which forms the housing for the spring I5 andacts exactly thesame as the tube I4 in Figures 1 to 3'. The spring I5 is held in thebore 33 iirany" suitable manner as, for example, anchoring the loop I6of the spring through a hole in the side wall of the bore, or the end ofthe bore can be pinched together to close it at the forward en with aloop of the spring in the pinch.

While in connection with Figures 1 and 2 the latch I9 is shown for thesake of si'm'plic'ity 'and' convenience as a piece of spring wireriveted or' otherwise secured to the rod or compression mem-'' ber I8,it will be obvious that this latch could be formed by the outer end ofthe rod turned to form an open eye so that the rod and latch is formedin one piece of metal in a manner that will be obvious.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy, in combination, a body forming a chamber, a compressionmember to be held in the hand and to be associated with said body tocompress a spring, said member being separable from said body a normallyexpanded spring positioned within said chamber in said body extendingbetween said body and said member, and latching means secured to saidmember and engaging the wall of said body at the rear end thereof forholding said member partly within said body to compress said spring,said means having a resilient part lying outside said body and extendingfreely toward said body to be operated by manual pressure appliedthereto when said member is held in the hand to release said body to theaction of said spring, to cause said body to withdraw from said memberwhile the latter is held in the hand as aforesaid.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latching means isresiliently secured to said compression member and engages said bodywhen said member is associated therewith to compress said spring.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 including a tube extendinglongitudinally of the body and wherein said spring is mounted withinsaid tube and where said compression member comprises a rod adapted toenter said tube to compress said spring therein.

4. The combination of a body having a rib therein, a tube secured tosaid rib and extending lengthwise of said body and through the rear endthereof, a spring within said tube and having its forward end fixedrelative to said body, a compression member adapted to be forced intosaid tube to compress the spring therein and a resilient latch securedto said member and adapted to engage said body whereby said mem ber maybe held in said tube against the pressure of said spring.

SAMMY WECHSLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,168,815 Madison Jan. 1 8, 19162,517,084 Carver Aug. 1, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date837,732 France Feb. 20, 1939

